Legend of the Lightning Sage
by Uzumaki111
Summary: The Fourth Shinobi World War is over but what happens when a foe even more formidable than Uchiha Madara appears? How will the Shinobi World deal with the enigmatic ninja once famed as the Lightning Sage
1. The Ultimate Ninjutsu

200 Years before creation of the Village of Konoha, the world was still war torn, clans competed against each other ad the skills of the most powerful ninjas went to the highest bidder. The gruesome bloodshed, the suffering and strife were the norm. One's place in the world was defined by their own power.

In this blood soaked era, a certain clan existed, the very mention of their name crushed whatever hope their adversaries had of victory. This was the Senju clan. Their power was the greatest therefore their place on top of the world was undisputed.

Their leader at the time was a man whose level of skill was truly fitting of the Senju clan. As the name Senju(meaning a thousand hands) implies, the members of the clan were skilled in the various forms of combat. This man was no exception and on top of his vast knowledge of battle arts, he had an unbelievable mastery of the rare art of senjutsu. Senjutsu requires extremely high levels of chakra and this man had so much he was compared to the Tailed Beasts. To enter Sage Mode he gathered so much sage chakra from the atmosphere that the clouds in the heavens could be seen coming down to surround him, he gathered so much from the surrounding terrain that the earth shook. His name is respected in Mount Myoboku as the most powerful Sage to ever live. He had conquered the most powerful ninjas of his time and battle against him even with large numbers was considered suicide

One day, he was practicing his senjutsu at the highest peak in Mount Myoboku when it began to rain. As the sky thundered and the winds were boisterous, a bolt of lightning struck him and he disappeared without a trace. What was the fate of he who was known as the King of Battle?

Chapter 1: The Ultimate Ninjutsu

A small apartment within one of the less picturesque buildings in the Hidden Leaf made a home to a certain individual. Every inch of this residence was the very picture of untidiness; from the small white empty carton laid a few feet from the red-colored door to the pair of stained boxer shorts that was placed on floor at the right side of the bed, clearly this was home to some sort of animal. The occupant responsible for this mess was sprawled on the bed, in deep sleep with a trail of dry drool running down the side of his lips. The blaring of a small, red alarm clock, positioned on a russet colored cupboard near the head of the bed, roused him from his sleep. He blinked a few times and grunted in complaint to the irritating sound of it then shot out an arm to silence the insidious device. His feet pressed softly on the wooden floorboards as he sat up on his bed and gave a long, drawn out yawn while scratching his shaggy, blonde hair. Tilting his head to the side, his eye caught a small picture frame positioned on the cupboard between the alarm clock and another picture frame. He took it in his hand with the great care then peered at it with a smile, looking intently at picture of the blonde man and the red-haired woman that was in the frame . "Mom, Dad, I did it." he intoned before dragging himself to his feet and heading towards the bathroom.

In about half an hour, he had brushed his teeth, had taken a shower and gotten dressed. He stood in front of a mirror to examine his appearance. The teenager noted that his blonde mop of hair was still as shaggy as it had always been and beneath it was a metal headband bearing the kanji for the word 'shinobi' which gleaned in the small traces of sunlight that emerged from his window. His eyes were as wide, blue and piercing as ever, he hadn't suddenly gained another whisker mark in addition to the three he bore on each cheek. Moving on to his clothing, he scanned the bright orange pair of pants he was wearing before shifting his attention to the long-sleeved jacket which was mostly orange but also black that covered his not-so-muscular frame.

Satisfied with his appearance, he immediately shut both eyes and appeared in a large boiler room-like space where water, which seemed to be leaking from somewhere, drenched his feet and a large fox of unfathomable size and bright orange fur lay asleep before him. "Kurama." he called in a soft voice which met no response from the beast. "Kurama!" he hollered a little louder to get the fox's attention yet he was replied, once more, with silence. With a vein now throbbing on his forehead, he shouted at top of his lungs, "KURAMA!" his voice echoed then gave way to silence yet again the fox didn't even budge. "Alright, it's your fault that I have to do this." he said with a grin as a large torii gate landed on the fox, trapping its head of the beast between its two pillars.

Kurama's eyes flung open and immediately found the source of his disturbance to be the blonde teenager before him. "Naruto!" the fox thundered in a deep, guttural voice as he struggled to remove his head from between the pillars of the torii gate, to no avail.

"Good, You're awake." Naruto smirked as he watched Kurama's continuous failed attempts at escape before the fox finally gave up and turned his attention to Naruto.

"Why the hell are you awake this early? You're usually still asleep like the lazy idiot you are!" Kurama growled in ferocious anger as he glared at the boy through narrowed, blood-red eyes.

"That's not nice," Naruto replied courteously with a warm smile, "and you're one to talk, all you do is sleep."

"Why wouldn't I be sleeping? I've been forced to watch the longest and most boring movie ever; your life!" the fox retorted, still seething with rage.

The smile on the blonde's face faded at this comment and a vein began to throb on his forehead. He replied Kurama by slamming another red torii gate on one of the fox's massive tails and the beast grunted in pain. Sometimes, it was necessary to deal with Kurama this way.

"Damn it, Naruto. What do you want anyway?" the fox asked in a much more calm and exasperated tone than earlier.

"Chakra." Naruto replied plainly before placing on hand on his hip.

"Really?" the fox asked, a bit surprised. "Oh no, another Bijuu arm-wrestling match with that idiot Bee?" he asked, his tone lifeless.

"Hey! Uncle Bee's awesome!" Naruto complained in the loud, annoying voice for which he was well known. "And it's not that."

"What is it?"Kurama asked, his curiosity now sparked.

Elsewhere on the fog covered plains of Kirigakure, a number of shinobi, dressed in uniform matching their ninja village, stood guard on the outskirts of the village. One of them, a lanky fellow with white hair, was sprawled on the bright green grass and stared into the sky with a blank expression then turned to one of his comrades. "Did you hear, Sokka?" he asked in a bland tone. "Konoha's getting a new Hokage. It's that Uzumaki jinchuuriki."

"Yeah." Sokka replied. He was another one of the Kiri guards stationed there, a black haired fellow who was twirling a kunai in his right hand. "Mizukage-sama went for the ceremony."

A third ninja, who had a rotund physique and was seated on the ground a few feet away from black-haired one, abruptly leaped to his feet and turned towards the right, gazing intently at the shroud of mist in that direction. "Wait, Sokka, Aido, someone's coming." he alerted his comrades.

"You're sensing a foreign chakra, Rido?" the white haired ninja named Aido asked the chubby fellow and all eyes present shifted to that direction just as the silhouette of a man drew closer to them.

"A powerful and sinister one at that." he replied with a hint of fear in his voice. "I'll call for back-up. Hold him off." he instructed before leaping away from Sokka and Aido moving towards the village.

Aido took a deep breath and removed his sword from its sheath before pointing it at the incoming ninja who was becoming more and more visible. He then darted towards the invader and attacked with his sword but was immediately frozen by an unseen force when the invader formed a single hand seal.

"W...What's going on?!" Aido asked, pale with fear as a bead of sweat trailed off his chin despite the cool and damp conditions of Kirigakure.

"Just let the genjutsu take over." the stranger spoke gently as he walked towards his enemy, revealing more of his person. He was adorned with a black, long sleeve robe which reached below his knees and had a hood which he wore over his head.

"Damn it, I can't move!" Aido complained with eyes widened, frantic as the cloaked individual drew closer. With every step the stranger took, Aido could feel his heart racing even faster.

"I need your skills." the stranger explained in a hoarse yet calm voice as he came to a stop just inches away from Aido.

"F..For what?" the Kiri ninja asked trembling.

Elsewhere deep in the forest of the Fire Country, the famous Village Hidden in the Leaves was bustling with life. Most of its citizens had alighted from their home and were going about their various business. Among the multitude that flowed through the streets was a rather pleased Uzumaki Naruto as he headed in the direction of the Hokage Office Building at a leisurely pace.

"You're really going to do that today? That sets a record for the stupidest, most idiotic waste of my chakra." Kurama thundered from within his container.

"Geez, have a sense of humor." Naruto retorted out loud in a lazy tone. He had earlier explained to the fox that he would require a massive amount of chakra in order to perform what he had tagged the Ultimate Ninjutsu though Kurama was more convinced that it was more ultimately stupid. The course of action was agreed to be decided by a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, which, sadly the tailed beast of legend, lost to his jailor.

"Talking to yourself again, Naruto?" a voice, which Naruto knew all too well, teased the blonde from behind.

Naruto grimaced as he turned to face a raven haired teenager who was slightly taller than the blonde, smirking mockingly at him. He was dressed in a pair of baggy pants and a short sleeved high collared shirt which was opened at the middle. "Shut up Sasuke!" Naruto hollered at the top of his lungs then continued to give him a mock hateful glare while pouting like a child.

The boy shrugged then met Naruto's eyes with his crimson orbs before appearing inside of Naruto where the Nine Tailed Fox made its home. He stood face to face with the gargantuan beast, both individuals not entirely surprised to see each other and a silence filled the air broken in lulls by the sound of the dripping of water "Uh...Kurama, you're looking scary as usual." the Sharingan user teased with a slight grin, breaking the silence.

"Uchiha. Maybe you can talk some sense into this idiot." the fox began, fuming with anger. "He wants to-"

"No spoilers Kurama." Naruto ordered, cutting off the Bijuu then continued to head towards the office of the Hokage as Sasuke faded from the Kyubi's domain.

"Whatever it is, I don't really care. The Fifth and those elders are waiting for you." Sasuke explained as he walked alongside the blonde. "The other Kage are on their way, let's go."

Arriving inside the Hokage Building, Naruto and Sasuke came upon a gathering where the elders Homura and Koharu were comfortably seated at a table with a steaming hot cup of tea in front of each. Also present was the current Hokage Tsunade as well as her aide Shizune, the masked retired ANBU and also Naruto's teacher Hatake Kakashi along with Sakura, Sai and Shikamaru. Tsunade and the elders were seated while everyone else were on their feet.

The Hokage narrowed her eyes into a piercing glare directed at the blonde Uzumaki as a vein throbbed on her forehead. "You're late." she hissed in a reprimanding tone.

"Sorry." Naruto apologized softly while laughing nervously, running his hand through his blonde mop of hair and struggling to avoid Tsunade's eyes. Sasuke simply rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Tsunade heaved a sigh and softened her gaze. "Listen," she began in a serious tone, "as you know, today's your Hokage Inauguration Day." she paused for a moment. "I finally get to leave this annoying job." she muttered under her breath though she was heard by everyone present. "I need to run a few things by you," she continued, now very audible. "As Hokage, your duties include-"

"Are we going to go over some boring stuff now?" the blonde Jinchuuriki complained in an exasperated tone, cutting the Hokage off.

Tsunade was less than pleased with the interruption. She gazed at Naruto coldly as a vein throbbed on her forehead and her left eyebrow had begun to twitch. Shikamaru, having already realized what troubles now awaited Naruto at the Fifth Hokage's hand, sighed in complete disinterest and began to stare off into space and the two elders present simply rolled their eyes.

"Idiot Naruto." Sakura commented coldly and was gazing at the jinchuuriki with such annoyance that could match her master's.

"Sakura-chan-" Naruto began to complain softly but was immediately cut off by his teacher.

"I'll explain it to him, leave it to me." Kakashi offered, in order to placate the slowly escalating situation. "After all, there's really only one language Naruto understands." he further added as he winked with his only visible eye.

Minutes turned into hours and the scene changed to the Ichiraku Ramen shop. Naruto and his white haired teacher were seated on a table, a bowl of ramen set in front of each though Naruto had several empty ones heaped atop one another right next to his current one. He grabbed the bowl hungrily and gulped every bit of its contents. "Ah! Another bowl." he ordered with a wide grin plastered on his drooling lips.

"Did you get all that?" Kakashi asked exasperated. The Copy Ninja had hoped that by taking Naruto to the Jinchuuriki's favourite eatery, the boy would be more inclined to listen to the details of his lifelong dream of being an Hokage. He did not, however, count on the Jinchuuriki ignoring him entire time, focusing his very tiny attention span on the Ramen being served.

"Sure, sure. I give missions, meet with Feudal Lords and Kages, approve construction of new building in the village, blah blah blah." the Jinchuuriki replied as another bowl was set in front of him.

"Finally! It's been two hours." Kakashi celebrated, it was rare that the blonde was able to comprehend anything even remotely complex. "Now in a few minutes, the village will gather to watch your Inauguration and it'd be pretty stupid if you weren't there." Kakashi leaped to his feet and headed out of Ichiraku Ramen. "The other Kages have arrived." he added before disappearing from sight.

"We don't want a late Hokage." Teuchi chided. He looked at the young lad with pride and joy. After all, he had known him since his days as an outcast and now the lad was about to take on the mantle of Hokage. It was almost like watching one's cold grow into greatness, the old man couldn't help but smile.

"Ossu!" Naruto responded cheerfully as he slurped the last dregs of his noodles and miso soup then darted towards the Hokage's office where a number of Konoha's citizens had already flocked.

After the blonde took his exit, the old Ramen cook declared his establishment closed for the day and he rushed to change into clothes more fitting for the occasion. After all, how could he even fathom not experiencing this moment?

Naruto was met with a crowd inside Tsunade's office compromising of strangers and the Hokage herself. He was dragged into the room and they begun to clothe him in the garb traditionally worn by the Hokage while styling his hair and every other aspect of his appearance. Looking in the mirror they graciously provided, the Jinchuuriki admitted the robe wasn't really his style and Kurama laughing uncontrollably at him didn't really help so he decided he wouldn't wear any aspect of the uniform unless absolutely necessary.

He stood on the top of the large, round building, both shocked and full of joy at the number of citizens that had gathered to cheer him on. Beside him were the current Five Kage, the strongest ninja in existence of which Naruto was now counted. Also present were Kakashi his mentor and teacher, Sakura, Sai and Sasuke, his beloved teammates, lastly Bee who he affectionately called Uncle, Iruka the one he considered father and of course Konohamaru.

Tsunade gave a stirring speech, going into detail about how inspiring the lad had been to both strangers and comrades, ninja and citizens alike. Naruto did his best not to let a tear drop escape his moistened eyes. When she announced him as the new Sixth Hokage, the applause was like the continuous clapping of thunder, Naruto was more than pleased. He lifted his right hand to calm the crowd who stood below him then cleared his throat to speak.

"BEHOLD THE FINAL PRANK OF UZUMAKI NARUTO! THE ULTIMATE COMBINATION NINJUTSU OF THE GREATEST HOKAGE OF ALL TIME AND THE MOST POWERFUL TAILED BEAST!" the Sixth Hokage announced in the loudest voice he could muster, nearly sending everyone present out of their skins in shock. Suddenly, bright yellow chakra poured from his body and shaped into a shining yellow chakra shroud, accentuated with several markings that made up his new seal. His appearance changed once more as the shroud spread out into a high collared, flaming overcoat and his whisker-like facial markings darkened and thickened. "ULTIMATE HAREM NO JUTSU!"

The entire village of Konoha became engulfed in smoke as a multitude of perfect clones of the Nine Tails Jinchuuriki popped out of nowhere in every nook and cranny of the village then each simultanously transformed into a nude girl with long blonde hair and pronounced feminine features. Eyes widened and jaws dropped at the, quite frankly, stupid waste of chakra then the shock was followed by uncontrollable laughter which was on the lips of everyone save a few.

Elsewhere, out of the mist that engulfed Kirigakure, emerged a sizable group of ninja. By their clothing, it could be observed that six of them were from Kirigakure, one of which had white hair, purple eyes and one sharp tooth hanging out of his mouth, he also carried a large, broad sword with a semi circular curve on the lower side of its blade and a circular opening on the upper-flat side of the weapon. Another six were dressed like Iwagakure ninja, another six were dressed in Sunagakure fashion while the last six sported typical Kumogakure ninja attire. The hooded figure who invaded Kirigakure earlier strolled along at the forefront as their leader, his body nearly completely shrouded though an opening in his hood revealed eyes only borne by a perfect Sage of Myobokuzan. "We head to Konoha!" he declared ominously.


	2. Date Interrupted

** Chapter 2: Date Interrupted**

A silent and cold night followed the excitement, laughter and cheer that was Naruto's Hokage's Inauguration day. The festivities had died down and most of Konoha's citizens were sound asleep in their homes on this moonlit night. Naruto, however and the company of ninja who tagged along with him, were just returning to Konoha from a hectic and crazy adventure aimed at celebrating the blonde's promotion to Hokage, the fulfillment of his lifelong dream. The Konoha Eleven, along with Sasuke and Sai, dragged their feet on the dusty trail that led from Tanzaku Quarters to Konoha as they bathed in the dull light of the full moon in silence, each one wearing a sullen expression save Naruto, who looked more...ashamed.

"'Don't worry Sakura-chan, I've made reservations at a hotel, we don't have to go back to Konoha.'" began Sakura, mockingly irritating Naruto's high-pitched voice and hyperactive gestures, even nailing the well-known 'Nice Guy' thumbs-up pose. "Idiot Naruto." she hissed, returning to her normal behavoiur as she shot the blonde an icy glare which caused him to cringe.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak but hesitated and bowed his head in shame instead as he continued onwards with the rest to Konoha in silence. After taking a few steps, he decided to respond to Sakura. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan." he said in a pleading tone as his cerulean eyes centered on her, his gaze seeking mercy from the pink-haired kunoichi.

"You're still an idiot." she retorted sharply in a huff, shifting her bright, green eyes to the dark and cloudless sky.

"I'm telling you I made the reservations!" Naruto quickly shot back defensively at the kunoichi, trying to explain himself for the umpteenth time that night.

"Really? Then why are we walking back to the village at night?" she thundered with fury which seemed out of place for a girl and shot Naruto another blood curdling glare.

"Umm...they must have made a mistake." Naruto replied in a shrill voice. After his announcement as Hokage and his subsequent performance of 'The Ultimate Ninjutsu,' he decided to take his closest friends on somewhat of a whirlwind adventure which included eating, shopping and many other fun activities that even made Shino laugh, carried away in merriment. The day's activities were paid for courtesy of the Fire Country's Daimyo as one of Naruto's many rewards for his work against Akatsuki in the Fourth Great Ninja War so the jinchuuriki spared no expense. His finale was to check them all into the most beautiful hotel in Tanzaku Quarters which even the late Jiraiya admitted he could not afford the last time the Sannin and the blonde passed through. He was SURE he made the reservations. He was so sure!

"Yeah, that's what you and the receptionist at the hotel were arguing about for over an hour!" Sakura hollered at the newly appointed Sixth Hokage. "And guess what, we're still walking home!" she was fuming with rage and the rest of their party knew that this was a situation too troublesome to interfere so they remained silent though some occasionally rolled their eyes and sighed, annoyed by the seemingly never-ending exchange of words between the blonde and the pink-haired kunoichi.

Naruto remained silent in defeat, not even bothering to utter a reply. He merely sighed heavily and shut both eyes, fatigued by the day's events. The cool night breeze that swept through the area was a nice silver lining to the fact that they had to walk all the way home, not that Sakura cared to notice. She was more preoccupied making sure her eyes looked as murderous as possible as they bore a hole into Naruto.

"Sakura, that's enough. Naruto was great today." Kiba spoke up in Naruto's defense and the blonde jinchuuriki lit up. At least someone seemed to appreciate his effort to make them all happy.

"Yeah," added the gluttonous Chouji who was uncharacteristically not holding a bag of chips, "he took us to Ichiraku, then for BBQ and to Tanzaku for that awesome festival food." he finished with an excited and joyous smile, a trace of drool already escaping the corner of his lips as the memories of the never ending meals flooded his mind.

"Not everyone goes bananas over food Chouji." Sakura retorted in a gruff and hoarse voice which was honestly very unattractive for a girl as she shot Chouji a glare almost as frightening as the one Naruto recieved earlier from the pink-haired kunoichi, the Akimichi heir fell silent.

"I would have loved to stay at the hotel though. They have a gym and I wanted to surpass my 10000 record in weight lifting and my 30000 record in push-ups." Lee declared as he brightened with a pure, white smile. His overly thick eyebrows arched and his perfectly spherical eyes wide. Ten-ten grimaced and rolled her eyes at this.

"Yeah, but he took us shopping!" Ino chimed in excitedly as she beamed with a smile, she then twisted her head in the direction of the Uchiha amongst them. "That purple dress was so hot. Won't you agree Sasuke-kun?"

"Uh..." Sasuke tried to reply but was rudely interrupted by Sakura.

"Shut up you pig!" Sakura thundered in anger.

"Jealous?" the blonde Yamanaka asked in a sly tone, pleased that she had sent Sakura in one of her annoying fits of rage.

Sakura gritted her teeth and gave a feral grunt, as she shot Ino a piercing glare, her eyes bleeding murder as a vein throbbed on her conspicuously large forehead.

"Could you guys keep it down?" the Uchiha asked softly, trying to placate the situation."It's really late."

"Sorry Sasuke-kun." both girls apologized softly in unison, their voices soft and velvet in an attempt to please the black-haired boy.

"Such annoying girls, and I'm gonna have to face another annoying female once I get home for coming in so late." Shikamaru complained and sighed exasperated as he rubbed his temples. He wore his hair down that night, allowing his black tresses to flow down his back as he dragged his feet, walking a small distance ahead of the rest in an effort to distance himself from their troublesome babbling.

Naruto chuckled at Shikamaru's comment about annoying females as he wondered how much truth there was to Shikamaru's fear for his mother. The fact that the orphaned Jinchuuriki's mother was feared as the Red-Hot Habanero in her childhood days led him to believe Shikamaru must have a point. "Well, we're back home, there's the gates." he said as he gestured towards the massive gates which served as the main entrance to the Hidden Leaf. "Goodluck Shikamaru."

"Well," began Sai who had remained totally silent on their walk back to the village, "Goodnight you guys." With that, the pale skinned teenager leaped away from sight, distancing himself from the company of ninja with the most silent of footsteps.

"Yeah," Shikamaru drawled as he let out a yawn, "come on Chouji, Ino." the Nara instructed in the bland tone for which he was well known as he began to walk to his clan's residential quarters at a very slow, relaxed pace.

"Goodnight Naruto and thanks for everything today." said Chouji softly as he and Ino followed after Shikamaru. After all, the Akimichi, the Yamanaka and the Nara dwelt very close to each other.

"No problem." Naruto flashed a smile at the rotund ninja as he waved him goodbye.

"Goodnight Sasuke-kun." said Ino, her voice filled with excitement as she waved at the young Uchiha. She was replied with silence, though Sasuke smiled at her.

"Shino, we'd better get going too." Kiba said plainly and his large white dog Akamaru agreed with a loud bark. The hodded figure in glasses amongst them, a teenager by the name of Shino, followed after Kiba and the dog in total silence.

"Goodnight Kiba-kun, Shino-kun." said Hinata in the sweetest, softest voice as she twiddled with her thumbs nervously, glancing at the blonde Jinchuuriki beside her unnoticed.

Sakura excitedly glided over to Sasuke and stood directly in front of him. She placed both hands behind her back and leaned forwards slightly, "Sasuke-kun, I'll walk you home." she said in a soft musical voice. A silence followed as a gentle breeze swept through the company of ninja. The Uchiha sighed and simply headed into the village as Sakura excitedly followed.

"Na-Naruto-kun," Hinata began softly as she stuttered nervously and continued to twiddle with her thumbs, her eyes quickly shifting between Naruto and the ground, "w-would you..."

"I'll walk you home Hinata!" Naruto declared, cutting off the blue-haired Hyuuga as a smile played on his lips. He watched, pleased, as she lit up with a smile and her cheeks flushed red. Both headed towards into the village, Naruto casually placing his hand over her shoulder and Hinata ever so slightly leaning in on him.

"Lee, where are you going?" Tenten asked both annoyed and confused as the taijutsu specialist ran speedily away from the village.

"I'm gonna go mountain climbing and then run around Konoha till dawn!" he declared as he disappeared into the distance. Tenten and Neji sighed in unison.

"I'll meet you back home Hinata-sama." Neji hollered towards the his cousin as she walked along with Konoha's Sixth Hokage. She gave no reply.

"Walk me home Neji?" Tenten asked with a sly smile.

* * *

The silence of this moonlit night was broken in lulls by the soft footsteps of Sakura and Sasuke as they glided through the streets of Konoha, not a single word between them. Sasuke's eyes were facing directly ahead, not focused on anything in particular as he strolled along, shoulders relaxed with both hands shoved into his pockets, completely indifferent to the person beside him.

Sakura however was doing her best not to outright stare at the Uchiha, her eyes awkwardly shifting in every direction, sometimes glancing at the boy beside her and he seemed to not have noticed. She was alone with Sasuke, this was a 'date,' to her anyway, but she simply was at a loss for words. After a few minutes of deafening silence, she sucked in her teeth and mustered the courage to speak, "Even with Naruto's complete screw-up at the end," she began shyly, "I would be lying if I said I didn't have fun today, especially at the Shopping Mall. So, Sasuke-kun, which part of today did you enjoy the most?"

She was met with silence, the Uchiha had absolutely no reaction to her words and a million things began to flood her thoughts. Did she say something wrong? Should she not have talked about Naruto? Was Sasuke angry about her for some reason? Was she not audible? Did she actually say anything or did she just rehearse the words in her head?

"Uh, did you say something?" Sasuke asked innocently and he turned to her, for the first time during their walk.

"You seem a little distracted. What's wrong Sasuke-kun?" she asked in that velvet voice which only made itself known when Sasuke was nearby.

"It's just...it's probably nothing but don't you think the fog is a little too much tonight? I can barely see a thing." the Uchiha replied and began to survey their surroundings.

"Huh?" asked Sakura as she scanned their immediate environment as well, only now discovering that it was now shrouded by an unusual blanket of mist. Her green orbs were only able to make out the silhouettes of the things around them due to the poor visibility. "I didn't really notice. Well, I guess-"

"Sakura get down!" the Uchiha ordered sharply as he tapped both of his wrists with his palm, releasing two small shuriken in a small puff of smoke from the paper wrapped around each wrist.

Sakura was in total shock though she quickly obeyed his sudden order and sank to one knee. The Uchiha flung the weapons towards her and they passed over her pink mop of hair. She was even more shocked to hear the shuriken clash with something metallic, the pink-haired kunoichi twisted her head around to see a ninja armed with a sword. "The mist...Hidden Mist technique?" she analysed as the new foe engaged Sasuke in a taijutsu bout, the Uchiha having already activated his Sharingan.

The mysterious new enemy proved his himself a fine match for the Uchiha's physical prowess as he blocked and dodged all Sasuke's attacks and Sasuke did the same to his, both ninja displaying great skill in spite of being partially blinded by the mist. Deciding the end the confrontation, the Uchiha weaved a number of hand seals, calling forth a glove of lightning around his arm which cackled with a chirping sound. He sped towards the his opponent at inhumane speed before slamming his lightning coated arm of the ground. "Chidori Nagashi."

Small bolts of blue-white lightning snaked their way from Sasuke's hand towards the mysterious foe and he leaped above the ground to evade them but immediately found that Sasuke was already in front of him in mid air. The Uchiha disarmed him of his sword and placed it on his neck in a flash while a smile curved on his lips and both ninja landed on the ground.

"Don't move." Sasuke instructed in a threatening voice, he stared at his opponent who he found looked quite familiar up close though the mist hindered him from properly seeing the attacker's face. Sasuke, in an effort to make eye contact with his foe in order to entrap his mind in a genjutsu, inched closer to him. His eyes widened in utter shock when he discovered his enemy was none other than Suigetsu and was even more flabbergasted when he noticed the fact that the Kirigakure ninja's torso was decorated with a number of explosive notes which had already begun to give off the sizzling sound which meant they were ready to explode.

Sasuke quickly tried to leap away but found that his feet were unable to move just as Suigetsu exploded with an ear-splitting boom, devastating everything around him.

The smoke from the explosion began to ascend skywards as Sakura looked on, eyes widened in total horror. "Sasuke-kun!" she cried in a loud voice as a tear escaped her eye and snaked its way to her chin.

The smoke began to fade away, revealing an unhurt Uchiha Sasuke standing in the centre of a large, purple, ethereal looking ribcage. Suigetsu was pinned to a nearby building by a large shuriken which cackled with lightning, the young Houzuki half in a gelatinous state. Sasuke placed his left palm on the piece of paper on his right wrist, evoking his Kusanagi blade in a puff of smoke. "Sakura, stay on guard. There are more." he instructed, crimson eyes surveying the thickening mist as he took hold of the sword he just unsealed.

"Seems you managed to escape that one," a gruff voice echoed through the blinding fog, capturing the attention of Sasuke as well as Sakura, "but I guarantee your death in the next attack!"


End file.
